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From March 9 through April 5, the Gene Siskel Film Center welcomes you to our 21st Annual Chicago European Union Film Festival. This largest festival in North America exclusively showcasing films originating in the European Union brings the vibrant cultures of Europe to the comfort of your theater seat, with 61 Chicago premieres representing all 28 EU nations.

According to the tradition of our festival, the opening night is presided over by the nation in the presidency of the European Union, and this year Bulgaria has the honor. On Friday, March 9, the evening is hosted by Dr. Ivan Anchev, Consul General of the Republic of Bulgaria in Chicago. Our opening night presentation is the zesty drama DIRECTIONS by critically acclaimed director Stephan Komandarev.

This year's festival will be enhanced by an exciting and provocative array of guest filmmakers. Italian director Fabio Mollo will be present on March 10, with his touching THERE IS A LIGHT, in which a pregnant woman and a gay man form an odd couple in search of a future. A Dutch elementary school classroom becomes a microcosm of a better world in the remarkable documentary MISS KIET'S CHILDREN, for which co-director Peter Lataster will be present on March 16 and 18. Dutch director Marleen Jonkman and casting director Rodrigo del Castillo will be present on March 23 and 24 for MESSI AND MAUD, a road movie saga set in Chile.
Sparkling Italian wines figure prominently in murder mystery THE LAST PROSECCO, and director Antonio Padovan and associate producer Alessia Gatti will be present on March 24. A Prosecco tasting and short wine lecture will follow the second screening on March 27. Irish actor Barry Ward is tentatively scheduled to appear with March 30 and April 1 screenings of MAZE, a tense drama based on Ireland's biggest jailbreak, involving the escape of 38 IRA prisoners.

The festival closes on Thursday, April 5, with THE YOUNG KARL MARX by Raoul Peck (Oscar-nominated for I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO), followed by a reception hosted by the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC).

Vote for the Audience Award! Enter to Win Free Membership!

Vote for the Chicago European Union Film Festival's Audience Award, and your ballot may be selected for the grand prize of a year's membership to the Gene Siskel Film Center! Ballots are available in the lobby.

Past winners of the award include I'M NOT SCARED (2004), COLOSSAL SENSATION! (2005), CLEAN (2006), AFTER THE WEDDING (2007), THE UNKNOWN WOMAN (2008), THE BEACHES OF AGNÈS (2009), THE WORLD IS BIG AND SALVATION LURKS AROUND THE CORNER (2010), DESERT FLOWER (2011), THE WELL-DIGGER'S DAUGHTER (2012), BROKEN (2013), BICYCLING WITH MOLIÈRE (2014), THE DARK VALLEY (2015), LAND OF SONGS (2016), and TRUMAN (2017).

The Gene Siskel Film Center thanks the consulates, the consuls general, and the cultural institutes of the European Union in Chicago, and their embassies in Washington, D.C., for their enthusiastic participation. We especially salute the efforts of all those who served as festival advisors.